Three-Quarters of the World’s Honey Contains Pesticides

According to a new study, 75 percent of the world’s honey is contaminated with pesticides known to harm bees. The authors of the study add that the insecticide levels are within the range considered safe for human consumption, but are high enough to cause serious problems for bees. According to the research team, three years were spent collecting nearly 200 honey samples from six continents. They then tested the samples for five kinds of neonicotinoids, a widely used class of insecticides that has been linked to health issues found in both wild and domesticated bees. Scientists say that at least one neonicotinoid was detected in 75 percent of all honey samples, while 45 percent contained two or more and 10 percent contained four or five.